Britvic posts strong growth but sees challenges ahead in 2014 November 26, 2013 Soft drinks producer Britvic has posted strong growth for the year ended 29 September 2013. The maker of Tango and White's Lemonade saw revenue climb by 4.4 per cent to £1.3bn and brand contribution growth across all business units. Net profit rose by eight per cent to £108m while the company reduced its debt by [...]
What you need to know before the open – 26/11 November 26, 2013 European markets are set to open mixed this morning after Brent prices recovered over the course of yesterday's trading. Prices initially saw a two per cent fall following the announcement of the Iran nuclear deal. Sepulchral start to European opening expected with derisory volumes continuing – FTSE -2, DAX +13, CAC -4 — David [...]
Coalition caps payday lenders November 25, 2013 CHANCELLOR George Osborne announced a surprise cap on payday loan costs yesterday, turning the government’s previous policy towards the short-term lending firms on its head. In the face of growing pressure from both the Labour party and an influential group of peers including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Osborne now plans to amend the [...]
Clash looms in Parliament over banking bill November 25, 2013 AN INFLUENTIAL group of Lords is threatening to derail chancellor George Osborne’s key banking reforms with a series of challenges in parliament today. Tory ex-chancellor Lord Lawson, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, former cabinet secretary Lord Turnbull and ex-Treasury Select Committee chair Lord McFall want to crack down on bonuses and impose tougher reforms [...]
RBS calls in lawyers over claims it hit small firms November 25, 2013 LAWYERS from Clifford Chance will investigate claims RBS forced small firms into difficulties so the bank could strip them of assets, the lender’s chief executive Ross McEwan said yesterday. Reports from Business Department adviser Lawrence Tomlinson and former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Andrew Large have both found claims of wrongdoing in RBS’ global [...]
Lord King gets drawn into the Co-op affair November 25, 2013 FORMER Bank of England governor Lord Mervyn King may be asked to give evidence to the Treasury Select Committee investigating the collapse of the Co-op’s purchase of Lloyds Bank branches, after claims he told a rival bidder its bid would get nowhere. Lord Levene has said that Lord King invited him to the Bank to [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 26 November 2013 November 25, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Europe unveils tax crackdown Ambitious proposals to block tax loopholes in cross-border financing structures were unveiled by Brussels yesterday, in an attempt to force multinationals to pay billions of euros more in corporate taxes to members of the European Union. EU accuses US of improper data trawl Brussels is to warn Washington that [...]
US markets surge as Iran deal fuels hope of trade November 25, 2013 BRENT crude prices fell only slightly yesterday as traders began to question how soon a nuclear deal between world powers and Iran could translate into higher supplies to global markets. The price of the international benchmark see-sawed during the day, trading down as much as $3 a barrel before closing at $111 a barrel, just [...]
Obituary Lord Kingsdown November 25, 2013 FORMER governor of the Bank of England Robin Leigh-Pemberton, Lord Kingsdown, died on Sunday night at the age of 86. Lord Kingsdown headed the Bank between 1983 and 1993, during a time of great change in the UK’s financial sector, and ushered in the UK’s regime of inflation targeting in 1992. Current governor Mark Carney [...]
Official IT systems too slow to cope with major economic data November 25, 2013 OFFICIAL data releases may be too big for the Office for National Statistics’ computer systems to handle, watchdog the UK Statistics Authority has warned. That means market participants using alternative data sources like news wires may have quicker access to the figures, like GDP estimates, than users going through the ONS website. Such problems with [...]